One of the activities we offer to clients who are grieving as well as clients who are ill is “Loving Letters.” It’s something anyone might want to do for a variety of reasons and offers many benefits.
“Loving Letters” are a means of recording and sharing your values, beliefs, faith, life lessons, hopes, love and forgiveness with family, friends and the community.They can be turned into artwork, dated and mailed, recorded in video, given to a loved one or just kept in remembrance when the person is no longer available to receive them.
Writing a letter takes time and thought, so the results are often much more balanced and the sentiments come across more poignantly than when thoughts are shared verbally. The results provide peace of mind or an outlet to express deep feelings that are often difficult to share face to face.
Evergreen volunteers conduct personalized writing sessions with clients and their families to complete their Legacy Letters. This activity has been shown to improve the quality of life of clients in the areas of family relationships and a renewed sense of purpose and meaning. There are even reports of improved physical and mental health.
Writing “Loving Letters” is something anyone can do at any time, offering similar results. Why don’t you try writing a message to someone special? You don’t even have to give it to them. The act of expressing yourself is often clarifying and satisfying even when the result hasn’t been shared.